When you are visiting a new city, the first thing you should do is to find its city map, which would help you get the rough idea of the city and find your way easily in terms of accommodation, transport and local attraction etc…. You could obtain the city maps either for free or buying them. The following tips would give you a quick assistance you are looking.

Part A: Where to find a free city map:

1. When you just arrive at the new city by airplane or train, you should look for the free city map at stands or kiosks, where you could also find free booklets or guides with the city map.
In some big cities, there will be a tourist information center or desk hosted by the local tourist authority to offer any necessary information.

2. When you move to the downtown area, you could get free city maps at tourist offices and visitor information centers, where you would also possibly buy some souvenirs related to the city in addition to all sorts of information introducing the city plus discounted attraction tickets.

3. Another suggestion is that before your arrival at the new city, you could surf on the internet for free city maps, which could be found on the official city website or visitor center’s website. Let’s take San Francisco for example, if you visit www.sfvisitor.org, you would be welcomed with so much tourist information along with many free printable maps.

4. If you are a member of American Automobile Association and drive your own car to where you are willing, you could go directly to its office or visit its website to get your free city maps.

Part B: Where to buy a city map:

1. If you are driving your car within and around the city, maybe the free and simple city map is not enough to provide all detailed information you need. So you had better buy a street atlas or a map with detailed streets and indicates. Rand McNally is a good resource for street maps and road atlases.

2. If you want to buy some latest city maps, you could look for the well-known travel guidebook publishers, who offer many kinds of city maps including the tourist information about attraction location, public transport route and so on. And some of these city maps could be bought online at their company websites, in a local bookstore, or at at www.amazon.com.